1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to public street parking and more specifically to using Radio Frequency (RF) and Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) in monitoring and regulating public street parking, using RFID in issuing parking tickets purchased by individuals, and using RFID to identify parking tickets that have expired together with a vehicle parked in a public street parking space.
2. Background
The majority of municipalities use a coin meter for each parking space in public street parking. These coin meters are prone to theft and fraud, require personnel to remove the coins from each meter, and are usually limited to a time frame of 1 to 4 hours.
Currently, to legally park a vehicle in public street parking in many municipalities, an individual must insert coins or tokens into a coin meter located next to a public street parking space in which the individual's vehicle is parked after determining the length of time needed for parking. Municipalities must then rely on the honesty of individuals parking their vehicle in public street parking spaces as well as parking enforcement personnel to properly monitor public street parking and enforce the issuance of parking violation tickets.
A drawback of the present situation is that municipalities lose revenue each time another vehicle parks in a space where time is still available on a meter from a previously parked vehicle or a vehicle is parked in a space with an expired meter and an individual does not pay for parking. In addition, municipalities suffer a decrease in revenues due to the personnel requirements for meter maintenance, violation ticket issuance, and parking space expiration tracking.
An inconvenience to individuals with regard to the present situation is the need to have readily available coins or tokens to use in the coin meters for public street parking. Another disadvantage of the present situation is that if an individual wishes to park their vehicle for a length of time beyond the capabilities of most coin meters (usually 1 to 4 hours) currently in use, the individual must return to the coin meter and reinsert more coins or risk receiving a parking violation ticket.